Inspiring Reading

I am also inspired by things I read and often I just enjoy sitting and reading about other artists and how they work and what inspires them.

Last week I received a couple of books I had ordered and I've already finished one of them. The first book is by the artist, Danny Gregory, who started "Everyday Matters" which is the sketch a day that I blogged about a few weeks ago and it is also the title of his illustrated memoir.  I was intrigued by his sketches and journals and wanted to know more about him.

This is written on the back of his book, "the Creative License, Giving yourself permission to be the artist you truly are": Do you dare to be creative? Somewhere deep inside, we all have a longing to make things -- be they drawings, music, hand-knit sweaters, or loaves of bread. Then why do so few of us consider ourselves creative?
For years, author Danny Gregory told himself he wasn't, couldn't be an artist. But when a crisis made him re-examine his priorities, he saw he'd been speeding through life and missing the view. So, in his late thirties, he picked up a ballpoint and taught himself to draw. The result was a whole new perspective on life.

In this book, he goes through all the excuses we give ourselves that keep us from being creative. He believes everyone can be creative and even needs to be creative. He touches on how we are our own worst critics. I can identify with that. I am always second-guessing myself and being overly critical of my work. He gives us permission to draw badly and not worry about it. Really creativity has nothing to do with the result, it has everything to do with the process.

The book is full of wonderful illustrations and has inspired me to do more illustrating  and journaling.
He is the author of several books, all of which are illustrated, and I hope to purchase a few of his other books for some light and inspiring reading.

I am a huge fan of " The Group of Seven Painters" who painted together in the 1920's and 30's here in Ontario. So I love to read anything about them. The second book I bought is the first complete biography ever published about the artist and group spokesman Lawren Harris. It is called "Inward Journey" and it is a little heavier reading than Danny Gregory's book but also very interesting. Lawren Harris also painted in Algonquin Park which is where I'll be canoeing again this summer so the book has double appeal for me.

It turns out Harris also struggled with becoming an artist and his style changed drastically over the years until at the end of his life he was creating totally abstract work. I prefer his earlier work such as this painting on the cover of his book. Years ago I copied one of his paintings as practice. Below is the original and below that is my copy.

 

 

As I was preparing this post, I remembered another painting of Harris's that I copied and this one was for a colour theory class project. It is interesting that I chose to copy Lawren Harris of all the Group of Seven Painters because he is my least favourite. I have never been a real fan of abstract art however, perhaps I copied him because he paints totally different from me and maybe I thought I could learn something from his style. Below is Lawren Harris's painting called Abstraction and below that is my copy.

 

 

In reading about these two artists, I noticed that they were plagued by the same self-doubt as I am but I have come to the conclusion that all artists are plagued with this and I believe there is good reason. If we didn't doubt ourselves, we wouldn't have the desire to improve. It is the push we need to continue learning and experimenting and in the process we are also very much enjoying the journey.